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Ziegfried
Ziegfried was a legendary mage that lived in Uland centuries before the events of Heroica RPG. He was the progenitor of the Ziegfried family of wizards, and the original holder of the Eubric Pandemonicon, which according to a legend he stole from his sister. Story of Ziegfried and Zieglinde Deep in the forest there was a tower where a poor mage lived with his two children. The boy was called Ziegfried while the girl was called Zieglinde. Their mother had died years ago, and their mage father was too preoccupied with his studies, so the siblings had to take care of themselves. Every day Ziegfried and Zieglinde would scour the surrounding forest, looking for something to eat, and every day they went a little bit deeper. The forest was not safe for children, for many wondrous beasts and dangerous monsters lurked there. But the two children were not helpless – they were children of a mage, after all. Ziegfried had the power to call thunder from the clouds above while Zieglinde could whisper to the trees. One day, when the siblings returned home with a basket full of berries and fruits from the woods, they found their father bedridden, weakened by a sudden fever. Their father knew of an herb that could help him, but it only grew in a distant swamp to the north of the forest. The children promised to retrieve the herb, even if it meant going further than they had ever gone before. Zieglinde consulted the trees to guide her and her brother to the swamp. Night had fallen before they reached it, and heavy rain soaked them wet. Just as they were giving up hope in ever finding the herb they needed, they were surrounded by strange lights. They were will-o’-the-wisps. Ziegfried warned her sister to stay away from them, but it was too late. Zieglinde was already fascinated by the pretty lights that promised to take her to the herb, and started to following them without paying heed to her brother. The boy summoned a thunderbolt to scare the wisps away, but only managed to knock himself out. When he came back to his senses, Zieglinde was long gone. The lights took the girl to a cave and ushered her in. The tunnel was dark and steep, but the will-o’-the-wisps lighted Zieglinde’s way. Down and down and down she walked, until her feet felt sore. She came across many wondrous sights: a cavern filled with crystals; an underground lake with giant fish breaking the surface; even a village of small, cowardly creatures that hid from her. But the lights did not allow her to stop until she came to a great, black temple that stood in a huge cave. Bracing herself, Zieglinde stepped in. Meanwhile at the swamp, Ziegfried searched for his sister everywhere. Convinced that the will-o’-the-wisps had led Zieglinde into a bog eye, Ziegfried fell to his knees and started to cry bitterly. Suddenly a bright light dried his tears. Looking up, he did not see the sun, but a flaming phoenix hovering in mid-air in front of him. The phoenix spoke with the voice of her mother and said that Ziegfried should not worry. Zieglinde would return to him, carrying a book that could answer all their problems. But the phoenix said that only he should read the book, not Zieglinde or their father. Only he had the strength required to bend the book to his will, to become its master rather than its slave. But Ziegfried was not interested in power, only in finding a cure for his father. The phoenix then said that his selflessness was exactly the reason why he was chosen to carry the book. Then the phoenix flew away, dropping a single blazing plume at Ziegfried’s feet. Clutching the warm feather, Ziegfried fell asleep. In the morning, he heard Zieglinde calling his name. She had returned carrying a book with black covers, just as the phoenix had foretold. Ziegfried asked her sister to show him the book, but she refused, claiming it her own. Ziegfried got upset. Her sister was being selfish, and that made her unworthy of the book. The siblings got into a fight, and Ziegfried knocked his sister down with a jolt of electricity, seizing the book. Unfortunately Zieglinde fell directly on a bog eye and got stuck in the sinking mire. She pleaded her brother to pull her up, but Ziegfried steeled himself. He now had the book, and Zieglinde would only try to take it away from him again. Turning his back on his sister, Ziegfried returned home with the book and the phoenix pinion. There the book instructed him to distil the essence from the feather to produce a healing potion for his father. After recovering, the father asked Ziegfried about his sister, but the boy only told that she had gotten lost in the swamp. The distressed father went to look for her, and never returned. Ziegfried became the master of the black book, and history became to know him as one of the most powerful wizards that ever lived. Category:NPCs